Lumsden. Appointment to command of the Rawal Pindi Brigade, 1874

Lumsden. An original letter on two sides of a bifolium attached by the blank sheet to an old card album page written in secretarial hand and addressed to Brigadier General P. S. Lumsden, C.B., C.S.I., Bengal Staff Corps informing him that The Government of India, on the recommendation of the Right Honorable the Commander in Chief… to appoint you temporarily to the Brigade staff of this Presidency during the absence on sick leave of Brigadier General Sir C. H. Brownlow, K.C.B..Lumsden is asked to proceed and assume command of the Rawal Pindi Brigade. The paper is headed with the embossed seal of the Government of India and is addressed from Camp. Adjutant General’s Office, Head Quarters. Calcutta 18th May 1874 and is signed Your Most Obedt. Servant ………. M. Gl. Adjutant General, India. The signature is unclear although the 1873 India List shows the office held by M. Gen. the Hon. F. H. Thesiger.   This letter marks an important step in Lumsden’s career and was facilitated by his long term mentor, Lord Napier of Magdala who was c.-in-c.  apl19/1   SOLD 3rd May 2023

Provenance: From a large archive of the General’s papers passed down through descendants of his brother, General Sir Harry Lumsden. Lumsden himself had no children.

General Sir Peter Stark Lumsden, G.C.B., C.S.I.. A.D.C. [1829-1918] had a very distinguished career in India, China, and Afghanistan and was the author of the standard work on his brother’s regiment Lumsden of the Guides. He joined the Bengal Army in 1847 and first saw action on the N.W.F. in 1851. In 1857 he was on a special mission to Kandahar and served in the China War with Napier., Bhutan War 1854, QMG India 1868-72, acting Resident Hyderabad 1873, Chief of the Staff in India in 1879 and headed the British Commission for the Demarcation of the N. W. Boundary of Afghanistan 1884-5.  He was made G.C.B. and an ADC to Queen Victoria.